


Conversation Diem

by ZodiacBiologist



Series: Campus Diem [10]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, David Acting as Max's Parental Figure | Dadvid (Camp Camp), Drunken Confessions, Gen, Gwen Acting as Max's Parental Figure (Camp Camp), Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Late Night Conversations, Past Abuse, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23995501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZodiacBiologist/pseuds/ZodiacBiologist
Summary: After Max is kicked out of his dorm for the night, he winds up in Harrison's room. After a few beers, the two discover they have more in common than they realize. Maybe they can help each other learn how to overcome the past.Conversations are finally had.
Series: Campus Diem [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/823053
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tw: Underage drinking, mentions of past abuse, refernces to alcohol abuse. If I forgot any, please let me know in the comments. 
> 
> Probably one of the darker fics of this series. 
> 
> Also, the song mentioned is 'Awaiting Symptoms' by Yotam Perel, Harrison's voice actor.
> 
> Disclaimers: I own nothing

"Are you fucking serious?!" Max exclaimed, slamming his dorm door behind him. Apparently Preston and Nurf needed a-, uh...private study session. It would have continued whether Max left or not, so it was best he got out of there before things got too graphic. 

It wouldn't be the first time he was run out of his own dorm by the two "lovebirds", but it was the first time he had no clue what he should do next. Had it been any earlier, he would have just called Nikki and seen what she was up to; However, he knew better than to keep her out late when she had an 8am lecture the next day. 

Depending on how desperate the "study session" became, Max was usually kept out of the dorm until 1am. Nurf could definitely care less that he was pissing off his roommate and Harrison normally didn't care what Preston got up to.

Speaking of Harrison…

Max didn't even bother knocking; nine times out of ten, the door was unlocked anyway. He flung the door open to Preston and Harrison's shared room across the hall, revealing the illusionist sitting on the floor with a book. Max's earlier outburst must have alerted the boy, as his eyes never left the pags he was on.

"Hey, Max…" He turned to the next page, indicating his plan to not look at his visitor. 

"Your roommate is fuckin-"

"I know, Max. I live with him, remember?" Harrison finally closed his book. 

Max raised an eyebrow. Normally, Harrison was a little bit more hospitable with visitors, often dazzling them with whatever parlor tricks he could come up. Today, it was as if someone had flipped the magic switch off within the boy, leaving a dull shell behind. 

"What gives, man? You and the lady fighting?" Max quipped, pulling the chair out from Preston's desk. He intended to stay, despite Harrison's bad mood.

At the mention of Nerris, Harrison's face softed, a bit of magic returning to his eyes. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair, "No, we're not fighting, I just had a long day at work…"

"I'm surprised you two aren't hanging out." Max admitted, tilting back in his chair. He almost wished he hadn't mentioned it; If Harrison went to hang out with Nerris, Max would be back to having nothing to do.

Lucky for him, Harrison shook his head again, "She has LARP club tonight...normally I'd go with her, but I just don't have the energy today."

With an honest confession like that, Max almost felt bad for entering the door unannounced. However, it was completely forgotten as Harrison finally stood from his spot on the floor, moving to grab two beers from the mini fridge. He tossed one to Max, then sat down on his bed, "Have a drink with me."

"Thanks, man…" Max replied, opening his beer immediately. Max would never turn down the chance to drink since the house party incident. David and Gwen had cleared the house of alcohol, meaning the dorms were the only place Max could get a drink. Tilting the can back, Max found himself chugging the contents like it was the only liquid he'd ever have again. 

Harrison rolled his eyes, "Slow down, man. You remember what happened last time?" 

"Fuck off, Harrison, I haven't had a drink in months." Max shot back, crushing the can in his fist. Harrison snapped his fingers, a second beer appearing on the desk beside Max. The boy stared at the can in awe, before looking back at his friend. 

"I get it, really, but there's no reason to be an asshole." Harrison smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Max grimaced, feeling bold with a bit of alcohol in his system, "What do you mean you 'get it'? What's there to get?" 

"Well, for one thing, you're drinking beer like it's water in the desert, so let's start there." Harrison pulled his legs up onto the bed, as if he were a child waiting for story time. 

Max growled, "I already told you, man. I'm pissed off at our roommates."

"I'm not talking about that." Harrison replied, before tilting back the rest of his drink. He flicked the side of the can, a new one appearing in its place. 

"Didn't know you could do that. You just got an endless supply of booze there?" Max asked, starting on his own second beer. 

Harrison laughed, "Hardly. It's just another beer from the fridge. I kinda need to know where something is before I, er...teleport it." 

"Cool trick, bet it comes in handy whe-" Max nearly tipped his chair as he was startled by his own ringtone, "God damn, it's like he's got a sixth sense or something!"

Leave it to David to want to video chat at the worst possible moment. He definitely did seem to have a sense for when Max was either doing something he shouldn't be or about to bury his feelings. 

Or both. 

Max urgently tried finding a hiding space for his newly open beer and to shake away whatever fuzziness he was feeling from the alcohol. He didn't have to worry long as the can in his hand had suddenly disappeared, along with any other empties that littered the room.

Glancing up at Harrison, Max had found the boy holding his book once more, as if he had never looked up from it in the first place. 

"Illusion. Just answer your call." Harrison mumbled, flipping a page in his book. 

"Oh, right…" Max quickly got over his awe and pressed the green phone icon. He hoped the illusion was enough to hide his complete lack of enthusiasm for seeing his father's face.

"Hey, Max! Just thought I'd check in." David lacked his normally cheery voice, a sense of slight concern taking its place. Ever since Max left for school, David began to sound more and more like that these days. 

Must be a dad thing.

"Oh, uh, yeah...everything's fine; Hanging out with Harrison, actually." Max turned the camera, the illusionist looking up from his book and waving.

"Hey, Harrison! How've you been?" David asked, a touch of cheerfulness returning to his voice. 

"I've been good; Busy, but good. You?" Harrison asked, setting his book down to show his full attention. Max almost had to laugh as he wondered if this was just a part of the illusion or not. Whatever it was, it got him out of talking to David.

"Gwen and I are doing wonderful. We're taking Terra on a hike tomorrow!" David exclaimed, knocking over his phone in the process. 

Max shot a look at Harrison, or at least, he hoped he could see the look, of annoyance. As much as he'd 'love to' talk to David all evening, he really wanted to get back to his beer. 

"Whoops, sorry about that. Anyway, I just wanted to check in, but I'll let you two go. I'm sure you want to get back to whatever it was you needed to cover with an illusion," David chirped, his smile never leaving his face.

"How did you-?" Max started, eyes darting between his dad and Harrison, who could only offer a shrug.

"I've been your camp counselor for years. I can see through just about everything."  
_________________________________

"I mean, at least it was David and not an RA." Harrison commented, restoring the beer cans to their original spots. Max rolled his eyes.

"I told you, he has a sixth sense or something." 

"Maybe he is also magical?" Harrison suggested, a light smirk appearing on his face. Max picked up one of the empties, taking aim for Harrison's head; at least, he would have if the can wasn't suddenly gone from his hand. 

"Seriously, I thought you gave up magic! How do you keep doing that?" Max asked, staring in confusion at his now empty hand. 

Harrison's smirk fell, replaced with a look of nervousness. He may have known Max for years now, but it wasn't like he knew him well enough to have this sort of conversation...or did he? 

The worst Max could do with this information was...nothing, really? Then again, this was information Harrison didn't really trust anyone, not even Nerris, with. 

Maybe talking about it would help with that…

"Look, if I gave up magic entirely, I'd probably be dead by now. Haven't you seen Fantastic Beasts?"

"Uh, no. I'm not a fucking nerd." Max crossed his arms. Alright...different approach.

"Magic is kind of like...er...breathing, I guess. For me, anyway. If you hold your breath for so long-"

"You pass out and start breathing again. Duh." While Max's tone conveyed annoyance, he had uncrossed his arms, now looking more concerned than anything.

"Exactly. Except, instead of breathing, you wake up with your curtains in fire or a tiger in your room or something…When things like that happen, you just want them to-..."

"-Disappear?" Max filled in the blank, his voice softer now, at least by his standards, "Damn, Harrison...guess I never thought about it like that…"

"There's a lot of things that I want to have disappear, and illusions at least make it look like it never happened...booze makes it feel like it never happened." Harrison said, folding his hands in his lap.

Max paused, having completely forgotten what had even gotten them on the topic, "So, that's what you meant...you said you knew what it was like…"

"You drink to forget things just as much as I do, Max. Probably more." Harrison replied, getting up to physically get another beer, wordlessly tossing another one to his friend. 

"I mean, wouldn't you? We both had shitty childhoods," Max commented, opening his beer without hesitation, a sort of anger beginning to take over, "You don't need to lecture me, Harrison."

"I'm not; You were the one who asked." The illusionist snapped back. 

Max's anger burned out before it ever really started. Harrison was right, after all. 

"Ya know, trauma is a lot like magic, Max...if you hold onto it for so long-"

"Shouldn't we be happy? I mean, look at us. We're in college, we have girlfriends, hell, I even got new parents! But-." Max paused, taking a sip from his beer, though the sip soon turned to a chug. He had a hard enough time talking about these things and now he was just spilling to Harrison? It was awful!

"So what? Maybe all the good that's happening to us now is the illusion, Max! We're just covering up that we're still fucked up!" Harrison crushed the can in his hand, a sudden puff of smoke taking it from existence. 

A silence fell between the two, both men unsure of how to stop what they already started. There was really no way of getting the night back to being lighthearted…

"Wouldn't happen to have a time spell, would ya?" Max questioned, just to be sure. Harrison shook his head,

"If I did, do you think I'd still be roomed with Preston?"

"That's fair…" Max mumbled, turning all his attention to a tear in his jeans. The silence resumed until Harrison stood up.

"I do have heavier stuff than beer though...if you want to take that way out."

Max shrugged, standing as well, "Works for me."  
_________________________________

"A-and then the bitch s-said, she s-said," Max slurred, grabbing onto Harrison's arm, as if to physically keep his attention, "She says, 'If they're you real parents, go live with them', what a bitch!"

Harrison couldn't help but laugh, pushing Max away from him, "That's f-fucked, man!" 

"I know! I know! So I fucking did! I live with them!" Max erupted into his own fit of laughter, sending himself tumbling off the bed. This only caused the boys to laugh harder.

"Wait, wait, I got something worse! My parents didn't even invite me home for the holidays!" Harrison exclaimed, throwing himself off the bed to join Max on the floor. This caused a second wave of laughter, one that resulted in Max coughing until he settled again.

Harrison straightened himself up, wiping the tears from his eyes; whether they were from sadness or laughter wasn't entirely clear, not even to him. 

"Y-you know, er...you know what you gotta do, man? Call them, man! Fucking call them out!" Max leapt from his spot on the floor, practically buzzing with excitement at his suggestion.

The excitement seemed to be contagious, as Harrison found his phone appearing in his hand, laughter threatening to overtake him again as he searched for his mother's number. Putting almost all his faith in her not answering, Harrison confidently placed the call. 

He didn't expect her to answer almost instantly.

"H-Harrison?" Had the boy not been all too familiar with the stutter in his mom's voice, he would have assumed she was just as drunk as he and Max were. 

His laughter had died out entirely and, as if it were magic, his thoughts seemed to disappear. 

"Mom…" He breathed, trying to comprehend the situation. What was he supposed to say to her? Why would he need to say anything to her? If she couldn't figure out what she had done, why should Harrison have to explain it to her. 

"D-did you need something?" His mother's voice sounded like sandpaper to him. No, his parents weren't like Max's, dumping him off so someone else could take care of him...they did try to get him help, after all. 

And when she spoke to him, it wasn't in anger...it was fear. Her son's powers seemed to disappear overnight and she was never given an answer as to why; She had every right to be afraid of that.

Maybe now was the time for an answer.

"Mom...I uh….I lied t-to you…" Harrison found himself feeling sober, words suddenly stringing together into thoughts he needed to get out, "I never stopped having powers, I never stopped using magic, I just started hiding it! And it wasn't fair to you or dad after all the help you tried to get me and it wasn't fair to...I-it wasn't fair to me when-"

The train of thought began to derail once more as alcohol and emotion began to rob Harrison of his ability to speak.

The silence on the other end had him wondering if his mother had hung up. Instead of hearing a click to indicate the end of the call, he heard a tap, then the phone being placed on the table. 

"Son...Harrison...you didn't have to hide anything from us…." He heard his father on the other end. That tap he heard must have been his mom turning on the speaker phone. 

"I...what?" Harrison asked. His mother continued.

"We didn't know how to help you...But we wanted to...you deserved to know how to control your...abilities…Even if we don't understand them"

"Your mother and I...always knew you were hiding something…" His father spoke up, the usual panic in his voice gone and replaced with an air of confidence. 

"You did?" Harrison asked, shaking his head a few times to try and clear away the grogginess he was starting to feel.

"You don't have to hide things from us anymore...We want to help you, Harrison…" His mother replied in the most loving tone Harrison could ever remember her using. 

Whatever he had been feeling earlier, Harrison couldn't feel anything now. There was no happiness, no relief, no frustration, not even numbness. 

He felt like singing, actually. That was something he liked to do when he was drunk and that's something else he had been hiding from his parents. 

If there was any time to be honest about that, it would be now.

"Y-you're gonna have to help me later...but I'm gonna sing for you right now, okay?" He mumbled, letting his eyes slip close. He wasn't too sure what their response was as his last thoughts for the night came in the form of song lyrics.

"But I'm not dissecting messages, I'm cashing some checks. Doing what you love is great, but it's confusing; No excuse for being hindered, held by life, it's your choosing."  
_________________________________

7am at The Bean was great for many things: Studying for your 8am exam, catching up with friends, piecing together the night before, and curing a hangover.

Which was exactly what Max and Harrison were attempting to do. 

Max flipped through his text messages from the night before, pressing his hot coffee cup to his aching temple.

"Thirty-seven texts to my parents...and forty-eight to Nikki…" He groaned, forcing himself to keep scrolling. 

"My mom sent me a good morning text this morning. I wonder what that's all about." Harrison replied, working to delete the various selfies he and Max had taken.

"Why don't we just hang out like this ever? Just coffee and life's problems, man?" Max asked, searching his phone for any more clues to the night's events. 

"I was thinking the same things! I'm sure we have something we can talk about without booze," Harrison agreed, set his phone down all together, "What were we talking about last night, anyway?"

Max stopped his scrolling, casting a glance to his friend, before resuming his search, "I don't remember...doesn't matter, I gotta go call David and Gwen...explain some of these texts…" 

Max excused himself from the table and made his way toward the exit. He definitely wasn't ready to talk about their conversation from the night before. That and he was pretty sure that Harrison didn't want to see a video of him doing an hour of drunk karaoke for his parents, even if it seemed to be the first genuine moment of happiness between the three of them in a long time. 

Maybe Max would show him later, but, for right now, he needed to have his own conversation with his own parents. 

Fumbling for the right contact, Max settled onto a nearby bench.

"Hey, dad...can I talk to you about something…?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, dad...can I talk to you about something…?" 

There was a pause on the other end, then the sound of bed springs as David sat back down on the bed, "Uh, yeah...everything okay after last night?"

Max winced; He really couldn't answer that. He had a raging hangover and the issues discussed last night were still very much issues today. 

"Um...Listen, uh...I wanted to talk about...something that's been going on a long time…" Max never hated his own voice so much in his life. He sounded so...scared? Childish? He really wasn't too sure how to describe it.

It didn't matter, anyway. This conversation was going to be awkward regardless of how he sounded. 

"A long time? Max, what's going in?" David asked as gently as he possibly could. This did nothing to put Max at ease. 

How could it? David had been nothing but caring and understanding toward Max, but it still wasn't enough to make him feel less hollow. Like Harrison said, all of this felt more like an illusion, something that only covered up the fucked upness that continued to be Max's life. 

"Where do I start…" Max breathed, looking up toward the sky as if the answers would fall from it. 

Of course, it never did.

"Would talking face to face be easier? I know we were going to go hiking today, but we could just take a drive to campus…" David said, the bed springs indicating that he had stood up to pace the room.

"I mean...I dunno…" Max admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"First things first, are you safe?" David asked, concern evident in his voice. 

Maybe the booze had burned Max's throat or something, as he suddenly found it difficult to talk.

"I-I think so…" He admitted, trying his hardest to swallow down the burn. 

"You think so?" David was reasonably confused. Max almost felt guilty now. David was probably going to have a normal, carefree day with his wife and daughter before Max called. 

No...Before his son called. 

"O-of course, I'm safe! God, damn it!" Max felt a twinge of anger, though he wasn't entirely sure who it was he was angry at. 

As always, David was still perfectly calm, "Max, calm down. No one is arguing right now."

He was right...Max hadn't called to argue...No one was fighting; it was just Max's instinct to fight.

He was scared, and when he was scared, David was always there to help, just like he was doing right now. 

"I'm sorry...yes, I'm safe...I just don't feel like it, sometimes…" Max sighed slowly, tilting his head back toward the sky. 

"Oh...How come you never told me?" David asked. Max felt the guilt from earlier returning. 

"I didn't want you to worry about me…" 

There was a pause on the other end, which only added to Max's nerves. While he knew better, he couldn't help but think David would be mad at him for this. Not being able to see David's face only made it worse. 

He probably could have waited until the next time he was home to have this conversation. By now, other students were bustling to and from class and stopping by the coffee shop, making the conversation less private and all the more awkward.

Had it not been for the added noise, Max would have been able to hear that there hadn't been a pause, rather, David had moved the phone away to talk to Gwen. Max wouldn't have noticed it at all if Gwen hadn't suddenly called for Terra to get ready. 

"Sorry about that, Max," David began, "We'll be on campus around noon, if that's alright?"

Exhaling a sigh of relief that the phone conversation didn't have to continue, Max agreed, "That should be fine. I only have a nine o'clock class today anyway…"  
_________________________________

Obviously with a hangover as bad as Max and Harrison managed to give themselves, class was completely avoided and naps took their place. 

By eleven thirty, Max was feeling a little bit better, both physically and mentally, and was beginning to regret his earlier phone call. 

Maybe he was still drunk earlier and that's why he felt so unsettled; If that was the case, he'd only feel that way when drunk, right? He could just avoid alcohol for the rest of college and never have feelings again.

But what was that saying, again? Drunk mind, sober thoughts?

Maybe the alcohol was what he needed in order to say what he needed to?

It didn't matter; David and Gwen would be there soon and time to continue his nap was running out. 

With a knock on the door, it was gone completely.

"It's open…" Max called, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of his bed. To his surprise, it was Nikki who came through his door, her signature smile gone from her face. 

"Hey, Max. Gwen and David asked me to watch Terra for the afternoon. I figured I'd come get you, too." The girl explained, leaning against the doorframe. 

Max had known Nikki long enough at this point to know almost exactly what the girl was thinking at any given time. Had she not been concerned about the situation, she would have already been sitting beside Max on his bed, picking at his hair in search of grays or something along those lines. 

Instead, she was keeping her distance, taking in as many details about the boy and his surroundings in hopes of answering her question. When she couldn't reach any conclusion, she slowly entered the room, pulling out Max's desk chair to sit, bringing a silence with her. 

After five minutes of staring anywhere but each other, Max finally spoke up, "You came in here just to stare at my wall? Don't you have one just like it in your own room?"

While he meant to sound like his usual, asshole self, the comment made Nikki laugh, "You know I'm fluent in speaking Max."

"I know…" Max admitted, casting his eyes down toward the floor. He had been...speaking Max for years now, hiding his true feelings behind swears and crude comments to avoid them. Now that there were others who spoke his language, it made avoiding his feelings that much harder. 

"Want to tell me why David and Gwen are stopping by?" Nikki asked softly, crossing one leg over the other to let him know she was staying awhile. 

Max ran his fingers through his hair, "It's uh...just to talk...visit, I mean." 

"I know you were drinking last night...does it have anything to do with that?" Nikki asked. 

Max shrugged, turning his attention to the window beside him. Nikki knew better than to keep prying, so instead, she stood.

Max briefly panicked, thinking for a split second that the girl was getting up to leave him alone with his thoughts. His panic subsided as he felt the bed shift beside him, Nikki's arm finding its way around his waist a moment later. 

He leaned against the girl and closed his eyes, deciding he'd spend the last fifteen minutes of his free time acting like the only two people in the world were him and her.  
_________________________________

Fifteen minutes wasn't nearly as long a time as Max once thought it was because, no sooner had he gotten comfortable against Nikki, the girl was on her way out the door, excitedly chatting with Terra about what adventures they could go on. 

Max felt a pang of jealousy for the two, wanting nothing more to run out the door with them and leave the conversation for another day. 

However, he knew 'another day' would probably lead to another, then another, until he ran out of days to fix things. With David and Gwen seated in desk chairs, their full attention on Max, it was finally time to talk. 

"So…" Max swung his legs gently from the bed, focusing on which foot he was kicking out instead of the two adults to his left. He hoped one of them would take over talking, but so far, nothing was going his way. The longer they sat in silence, the more Max felt like he was trapped, his parents' eyes never one leaving him long enough for him to escape. 

"Maybe start from last night. You sent a text saying you were sorry." Gwen pulled out her phone to pull up the message, turning it to show Max.

The young man couldn't help but look away from the phone, racking his brain for an answer to give her, but couldn't come up with one. 

"You and mom have done a good job- I think that was supposed to be 'raising'- raising me, but I've been shitty." David squinted at his own messages, having never been drunk enough in his life to automatically translate the message.

"What happened last night, Max?" Gwen tucked her phone away, concern entering her voice in a way Max hadn't heard since camp. 

That concern made Max want to throw up; She genuinely wanted what was best for him and he just couldn't let her do that. 

Max glanced up, though the looks on their faces just made him feel shittier. It had been eight years, they still shouldn't be worrying about him the way they did, not because they shouldn't care, but because he shouldn't have given them anything new to worry about. 

He should be able to feel comfortable and confident knowing that he was cared for finally, but he couldn't. 

Those were the words…

"I feel like I can't...let my guard down…" Max started, "...And I feel bad for that...You guys have taken such good care of me, I know that, but I still feel-" 

Max paused, mouth moving but no words coming. 

David stood first, moving to sit beside Max on the bed. As much as he wanted to put his arms around the boy, a hug wasn't going to stick all of Max's pieces back together...the years had taught David that. 

Hugs weren't really Max's thing, however, having David close by in case he was ready to give one was something he always needed. Even back at camp having David around, even if it was at a distance, helped Max feel safe. 

That feeling of safety put the words back into Max's mouth, "-I still don't feel like...I'm part of a family...How crazy is that?" 

"It's not crazy, Max...I get it-" There was that phrase again; What did David get? 

That's when Max began to feel a sense of dread. If this conversation was anything like last night, he was about to learn some sad truths. 

"The 'not belonging' part or the abandonment part?" Max mumbled, staring intently at his hands. 

David shifted beside him, sitting up straighter. If Max didn't know any better, he would have thought that David went rigid over the question. 

However, as soon as David began to answer, Max knew it was out of confidence, rather than nerves.

"Both, actually...And for years I kept that hidden by putting on an act, I guess. I figured if I just tried and stayed positive long enough that everything was going to change around me...but it doesn't work like that...And I think I forgot that." David explained. By now, Gwen had gotten up to sit beside him, offering him a hand to hold. 

"Look, I don't want you to think I'm, ya know, ungrateful or anything-" Max started, finally casting his eyes up at his parents. Their expressions had gone from concern to understanding, making them all the easier to look at. 

"Why would we think that?" Gwen asked. Max shrugged.

"I guess...that's how I'm used to things being." 

Max tilted his head just enough to touch David's shoulder, not ready to completely lean on him yet, still feeling as though David would get up and leave if he said the wrong thing. 

"You're hurting still and that's fine. It took me years of putting your mom's psychology degree to use before things started feeling more secure." David leaned toward Max, as if to assure him he wasn't going anywhere. 

"Whatever you need, kid, we'll help you." Gwen got up to sit beside Max, offering him the same hand she had offered David. 

Max took it without a word, squeezing it lightly. He hadn't realized he started crying until Gwen was using her free hand to wipe them away.

"We're here for you, buddy." David rested his head on top of Max's. Gwen nodded in agreement.

Max hung his head, "I-I think I need that hug now…"  
_________________________________

"How'd it go?" Nikki asked, walking a step ahead of Max on their way to The Bean.

"Uh...Good. I just need to get some things off my chest." Max admitted, too emotionally exhausted to even attempt to be an asshole.

Apparently, Nikki noticed, "Was that honesty, Max? Holy shit, the world must be ending!"

Max shook his head, a soft smile coming to his face, "Nope. Just felt like being honest, is all...Gonna try to do that more…"

"Well...that's good!" Nikki smiled back, taking another step in front of Max. She would have done it again, if not for a hand tugging her back, "Hey, Max! What gives?" 

"Just felt like holding your hand, is all. You're one of my greatest supporters and I appreciate you for that." Max said flatly, moving to open the door of the coffee shop. 

It was time to start letting more people in and having some more trying conversations. 

Now that he had talked to his parents, Max was ready to talk to Nikki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap! Maybe.
> 
> I'm debating adding a chapter of Max's conversation with Nikki or letting that be its own one-shot. Let me know what ya'll think!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
